As new communication systems are developed, communication devices are being designed that integrate several types of application data into a single portable electronic device. Thus, these advanced communication devices are more convenient than previous generations of communication devices. However, as more applications are integrated into the device, the interfaces between components inside the device tend to become more complex.
One type of application data that a wireless communication device may need to account for arises from multi-paths encountered during communication. FIG. 1 shows communication system 100 where a radio subscriber unit 102 is attempting to transmit a signal to a base station 104. Because of the nature of radio communication, the radio subscriber unit 102 transmits its signal in all directions (e.g., a spherical waveform radiating from the unit's antenna). Along path 106 the signal is transmitted directly from the unit 102 to the base station 104. However, along other paths 108, 110 the signal reflects from terrestrial objects (e.g., buildings, mountains, etc.) or atmospheric conditions (e.g., the ionosphere) before arriving at the base station 104. Because the base station 104 receives the signal along multiple paths 106, 108, 110, the final received signal may suffer from constructive interference, destructive interference, phase shifting, or other signal aberrations.
In some applications, these aberrations cause jitter or ghosting. For example, ghosts 112, 114 may appear when transmissions are reflected. Depending on whether base station 104 or subscriber unit 102 transmits a signal, the ghosts could affect the subscriber unit 102 or base station 104, respectively, that receive the transmitted signal.
Therefore, to meet customers' growing expectations, communication devices and methods are needed to efficiently integrate multiple types of application data into a single communication device, while at the same time accounting for multi-paths.